Astro Boy

Hiiiiiiii, Meyume here!
Wanna know the first anime show to ever really make it in America? That would be Astro Boy (Tetsuwan Atom), which first aired in Septembet of 1963, thanks to NBC. Now, aster this, there came more, such as Speed Racer, and others that I dont want to focus on; so back to Astro Boy!

The show was based on the manga, Osamu Tezuka, and was an instant hit. The story depicts the future, where people and robots live together, head of the Ministry of Science, Dr. Tenma, created Astro Boy in a attempt to replace his son Tobio (mean, huh? ;_;), who had died in a car crash. Astro was created to take his place, but soon could not keep that image, due to the fact that he wouldnt grow. Astro has a great, kind personality, he is a bit immature and doesnt know whats good for him in the beggining, but he learns! n_n

Soon enough, he has super powers and great abilities, and is able to experience human emotions! Here are some of his abilites:

-Translate more than 60 languages
-Strength equivalent to 100,000 horsepower, allowing him to lift many times his own weight
-The ability to fly using jets in his legs (the manga also featured jets in his arms but they were not featured in the '60s anime),
-Magnification of his hearing up to 1000 times,
-Laser guns deployed at his "hips" (updated from machine-guns depicted in the original manga)
-An electro-heart that can discern people's criminal intentions,
-Bright eye-lamps to assist his vision.

In the more recent series Astro Boy was also given an arm cannon, lasers in his fingers, and additional jets in his arms. He fought crime, evil and injustice. Most of his enemies were robot-hating humans, robots gone berserk or aliens trying to invade the earth, and the series brought up issues like morality, responsibility, racism, prejudice, true heroism, and loss. A good show for the kids, no? n_n

There are 193 japanese episodes and one movie called "Hero of Space", and 104 english versions, maybe you should watch some? 'Tis good! =3

My favorite part of this all? His "hip" lasers!